Garden of Magic
by The Glorious Cheshire Cat
Summary: Come little children I'll take thee away, into a land of Enchantment... A haunting tune, a village missing children, tales of a soul-eating witch, and a Prince set on saving... What's a warlock to do?
1. A Haunting Melody

Garden of Magic

By: The Glorious Cheshire Cat

Chapter 1: A Haunting Melody

Disclaimer: This story is a result of boredom and a love for the movie Hocus Pocus and the BBC's Merlin. Anything you recognize is not mine and belongs to their respective owners/artists/etc. Enjoy!

* * *

The moon was beginning to rise, bathing the misty forest in eerie light.

The little girl of no more than four huddled closer to the five year old boy that was her older brother, trying to get warmer in their ragged clothes.

He hugged her closer, wincing when she pressed against an old bruise that didn't seem to be healing.

Both little heads perked up when music began to float on the air, music that seemed otherworldly.

"Come little children I'll take thee away, into a land of Enchantment. Come little children the time's come to play here in my garden of Shadows." a female voice sang.

The two children stood and moved closer to the forest.

A woman in a long dark blue cloak appeared out of the fog.

She held out her hands to them. "Follow sweet children I'll show thee the way through the pain and the Sorrows. Weep not poor children for life is this way murdering beauty and Passions."

They took her hands and walked next to her as she turned to walk back into the forest. Having been raised and frightened into obedience with stories of monsters in the forest, the little girl whimpered.

The woman picked her up and held her close. "Hush now dear children it must be this way to weary of life and Deceptions."

The three continued into the forest until they came to stop before two huge oak trees.

She smiled at them. "Rest now my children for soon we'll away into the calm and the Quiet. Come little children I'll take thee away, into a land of Enchantment. Come little children the time's come to play here in my garden of Shadows."

A doorway appeared in the space between them and opened to reveal what seemed to be a paradise.

The children's faces lit up at the sight.

She laughed a soft and musical laugh. "Come little ones. Enter and we shall have dinner and tuck you away."

The boy took his sister's hand when she was placed on her feet and they walked in together.

The woman paused in the doorway and looked back towards the village.

A cruel and wicked smile spread across her face as the shadows in the forest seemed to move. The laugh she gave as a few shadows broke free was chilling and seemed to come from Death.

She followed after the children and the doorway closed.

Back in the village, several children woke from their sleep with the melody floating around in their minds and tears on their cheeks. They were sad to be left behind.

Mothers and fathers were baffled by their children's behavior and the fact that they could not be consoled. They exchanged worried looks when the children told them that they wished to play in the garden too.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I am aware I need to be working on my other stories. But currently, my plot bunnies are on strike and no amount of carrots seems to be tempting them to work. I will try my hardest to get them updated, but between the striking bunnies *glares over at where the little devils are hopping around with picket signs* and college, I can't make any real promises. Thanks for everyone's patience.


	2. A Quest

Chapter 2: A Quest

Disclaimer: See Chapter One. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And just to let those that noticed know, the first chapter was supposed to be kinda choppy and not flow. The rest should be better I hope.

* * *

Merlin rushed into Gaius' rooms. "What do you know about witches that eat the souls of children?"

Gaius looked up from the elixir he was making. "Witches? Eating children's souls? Well, there's many tales about such things. One involves two young children that were abandoned and stumbled across the home of a witch. Of course she ate all of the children, not just their souls. And then…"

"Could we skip the stories? I only have an hour to get things ready for when Arthur, Gwaine, Lance, and Percival ride out to go fight the witch." Merlin interrupted.

Gaius raised an eyebrow. "You're going with them of course."

"Of course. Arthur's bound to get himself killed trying to fight someone with magic and then where would I be? Uther would have my head."

"You're riding after a witch that eats the souls of children. All right."

"Well that's what the villager said. Three children have gone missing from a small village three days away from Camelot and their parents have seemingly been driven mad. And the rest of the children are inconsolable about seeing some garden."

"That doesn't sound like a witch that would eat the souls of children. Why drive their parents mad?"

"You tell me." Merlin ran up the few steps to his room and quickly grabbed his things.

"I think there's more to this than we know. Keep an eye open at all times Merlin. And if it is a witch eating souls, the best way to deal with one is by fire." Gaius explained.

"Thanks Gaius!" Merlin was out the door and running to finish getting Arthur's things together.

Arthur was impatiently sitting on his horse when Merlin finally finished a little over the hour given to him. "Well, now that _Mer_lin is finished, we can be on our way." He turned to the villager that had come to request their help. "Lead the way."

Lancelot, Percival, and Gwaine shot Merlin varying looks of sympathy or amusement and followed the villager and Arthur out of the courtyard. Merlin got settled in his saddle and nudged his horse after them.

The three days until they reached the village seemed boring besides the fact that it was mostly Merlin that was doing the chores.

The man from the village, Henry, jumped from his horse the second they reached the village and his wife ran out to meet him.

"Have any other children been taken?" he questioned her.

She burst into tears. "Two more, just last night. Landon and Sarah's two girls. The babe was left. Jennifer's taken him in after what they did."

Arthur walked up to her. "What happened to the parents?"

She wiped her eyes on her apron. "Landon went screaming into the woods early this morning, screaming about 'Demon Hounds of Hell' chasing him. And Sarah screamed a blood curdling shriek as she tore her hair out and then went running towards the river in the woods. The men haven't found either of them yet."

Arthur turned to the other three knights. "Go help them. If you find something, you know the calls. I'll go the direction you don't. Merlin, while we're gone, talk to the children and see if you can find out anything. This terror is after them."

Henry's wife led him to their house, the biggest in the village. All the children had been gathered up and placed within it.

The village itself wasn't very big, consisting of maybe fourteen or fifteen stone and wood buildings. The small forge and smith were the only things made solely of stone.

The children all looked up from their almost listless play when Merlin walked in.

"Are you a knight?" one child asked.

Merlin smiled. "No. I am Prince Arthur's manservant."

"Prince Arthur is here?" a little girl questioned.

"Yes. He's here to keep you all safe, he and three of his most trusted knights, Sir Gwaine, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Percival." He took a seat among them. "Who wants to hear a story about Prince Arthur and his knights?"

For the first time in over a week, the children got excited and began demanding tales.

Merlin laughed and told them as many as he could before carefully turning the conversation to the problem the village had. "Why don't you tell me a story?"

"What story do ya wanna hear?" Henry's son David asked.

"Tell me about the witch and her garden." He sat back and waited.

The children exchanged looks.

"We don't know about her garden. We'll never get to see it." David explained.

"And the lady can't be a witch." a little girl protested. "Her voice is too pretty. She has to be a fairy-lady."

Merlin thought back to Mary Collins. "Sometimes, just because something sounds pretty doesn't mean it _is_ pretty. But why won't you ever get to see her garden?"

David snorted and crossed his arms. "'Cuz we're not special. Anna and Brandon and Philip and Hannah and Lily get to see it cuz their parents were mean to them. Our parents aren't mean like theirs. I bet Amelia is the next one to see it. Her father is scary and even Father doesn't like him and Father likes everybody."

"And where is Amelia?" Merlin asked, looking around at the children.

"Hiding of course! She's got a big bruise on her face and she's gotta make sure everything is just so for when he comes back from the town near here where we go shopping for things we can't get here. But Amelia is so little that she can't do it so he hits her and says she bruised herself falling down. I seen 'im do it once." a young boy chirped.

"Does anyone know where she hides?" Merlin questioned.

A little girl timidly walked over to him. "I know." she told him softly, almost in a whisper. "But you can't tell anybody. It's supposed to be a secret so he doesn't find her."

"I promise, I won't tell anyone." he swore.

She took his hand and led him from the house to the far side of the village.

A wooden and straw house in bad need of repair stood a bit separate from the rest of the village inside a crumbling stone fence. The back wall of the fence was flush with the trees of the forest behind it.

In one corner was a large mass of thorny bushes. It was to these bushes that the little girl took him.

She dropped to her knees and carefully wiggled her front half under the bushes. "Amelia, Prince Arthur and three of his knights and his manservant are here to help. Merlin, that's Prince Arthur's manservant, he wants to talk to you. Come out. He knows all kinds of stories. They all end happily."

A very soft little voice replied to the little girl, so softly that Merlin missed what was said.

The little girl giggled. "Of course he's not gonna hurt you silly! Prince Arthur wouldn't have brought him if he was gonna do that." She wiggled out from under the bushes.

There was a slight rustling of the bushes before a small girl with tangled light brown hair crawled out from the bushes. She looked up at Merlin curiously.

Merlin felt his blood boil in anger as her bright green eyes met his.

Her face was covered in tons of bruises in varying stages of healing and he could see more bruises underneath the rags she wore, many in the shape of a hand.

He smiled brightly at her. "Hello, I'm Merlin. You must be Amelia."

She timidly smiled back, looking almost as if she were afraid he would lash out at her for doing so. She blushed when her stomach rumbled.

Merlin laughed and bounded to his feet. He held out his hands to both little girls. "Sounds like you're hungry. Let's go get you something to eat."

Amelia looked up at him with hope swimming in her bright eyes.

He let his grin become a comforting smile and wiggled his fingers at her. "Come on. I have some bread and cheese and meat in my pack you can have. And you can have as much as you want."

Amelia took his hand with a bright and thankful smile.

* * *

Arthur, Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, and the men from the village returned an hour before the sun set.

Merlin was sitting with Amelia sleeping against him, his blanket wrapped tightly around her. He stroked her hair as the four other Camelot men took a seat around the fire and the bowls of food from Henry's wife. "Well?"

"Both dead. The mother was drowned and the father looked as if he'd been torn to pieces." Percival told him.

Arthur jutted his chin at the sleeping Amelia. "And who is your new friend Merlin?"

"This is Amelia. According to David, Henry's boy, Amelia is most likely the next child to 'see the garden' of our witch. Only those whose parents are 'mean' to them get to see the garden."

Lancelot noticed the bruises. "You mean the witch has been taking children that are being abused?"

"Probably because they'll be missed less." Gwaine suggested.

Arthur studied the little girl. "Well, we have our little quest. We guard little Amelia and catch the witch."

A huge and burly man came to stand in the doorway.

"I'll be taking me daughter back. Don't care if a witch comes for her, she's not even worth the witch eating." he slurred, drink heavy on his breath.


	3. You Missed

Chapter 3: You Missed

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

* * *

The four knights and Merlin were spaced around the ramshackle hut Amelia and her brute of a father lived in.

None of the five men from Camelot had wanted to let him take Amelia, but there was little they could do to prevent him from doing so.

It had almost broken Arthur and Merlin's hearts to see her be dragged along beside her father, her bright green eyes looking back at them pleadingly.

Merlin stirred from his light doze when a small body sat down next to him and snuggled close. He grabbed his blanket and wrapped it around Amelia.

She smiled at him and sighed in contentment when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Arthur left his position to take a seat on Amelia's other side. "She snuck out I see. Good. It will be easier to protect her this way."

"Do you really think that whatever is taking the children is evil? Look at what Amelia has been going through. Is it necessarily a bad thing that the children have been taken?" Merlin asked him.

"Merlin, this is a witch we're talking about. One that's been preying on the souls of children. Gwaine had a point when he said that the children the witch has been taking wouldn't be missed as much. But what do you think will happen when there are no more children like Amelia to take? The witch will move on to the other children." Arthur answered.

"But they haven't found any bodies of the children. You'd think that if it's just their souls being devoured, there'd be soulless husks left." Merlin pointed out.

"I don't know what the witch does with what's left of the children after she's feasted on them, nor do I want to know. It's probably something horrid. And perhaps their bodies turn to dust when she eats their souls. It's magic at its darkest."

A feminine laugh came from behind them.

They turned to find a woman with long brown hair tumbling over her shoulders and eyes the color of liquid silver leaning on the wall they sat against.

"You know, not all that you think you know is correct. More oft than not, people just see what they want to see or what makes them most comfortable. There are far more things in this world than is known." She pulled the hood of her fancy dark blue cloak up.

"Who are you?" Arthur demanded to know.

She just smiled and took a step back from the wall.

"Answer my question." Arthur commanded.

"Why should I? You are of position of power over me." she returned.

"I am Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot." Arthur ground out.

She laughed. "So you are, but until you fulfill your destiny, I'm afraid that I cannot follow your orders. Besides, you would sooner kill me than listen to what I have to say. And so, I bid you both a good evening. Prince Arthur, Merlin." She turned and strode into the fog swirling around the trunks of the trees.

Both men could only stare openmouthed as she seemed to melt into the fog.

"Oh, and if I were a soul-devouring witch after children, the presence of four knights and one like me would not prevent me from having my dinner. Your souls would be much tastier than a child's really, having seen so much more pain. I, for now at least, leave Amelia in your capable hands. See to it that nothing happens to my child, won't you?" the woman's voice echoed at them from nowhere.

"'One like me'? What did she mean by that?" Arthur wondered aloud.

Merlin swallowed sharply. "Haven't a clue." he lied.

Arthur looked at Merlin for a long moment in the darkness. "Stay here with Amelia. I'm going to check on the others. We've heard nothing from them." He strode away to go check on the other three knights.

Merlin stared at the forest, trying to pick out the woman's shape. He only hoped that Arthur wouldn't figure out that he was a warlock.

* * *

The next night was a village holiday, and bonfires were built and set alight all over the village, filling it with light.

Many of the villagers breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that with all the light, the witch wouldn't dare try anything.

Arthur and his knights, however, were prepared.

Arthur had found the other three men sleeping at their posts, unable to be woken until the sun rose.

Nothing had been done to them besides a spell that gave them restful and uninterrupted sleep, of this Merlin was sure. Lancelot had even drawn him aside to question him about that.

Amelia's father had left for the tavern of the next village over soon after he rose, snarling hurtful things at Amelia as he left.

Merlin had taken her hand and led her to Henry's home where Henry's wife had bathed and dressed the little girl in a rather becoming smock that had once belonged to her niece. He had then made sure she had a good breakfast and was content playing with a cornhusk doll in the shade of a tree while he, Arthur, and the others helped prepare for the night ahead.

Amelia smiled as she sat down next to Merlin at one of the bonfires.

It was one that was near the forest and had very few people around it.

He offered her a bit of bread and cheese.

She shook her head. "No thank you Merlin. I have to be hungry for the dinner Mummy is making. I get to go home tonight."

"Go home? What do you mean?" he asked.

She giggled. "I get to go home to Mummy's cottage in her garden. She let me see it last night in my dreams. And she told me that you have another name, but don't worry, none of us will tell. But that's why I like to so much. You're like Mummy."

Merlin looked at the forest. "Amelia, just when is your Mummy coming to get you?"

Amelia beamed happily, almost glowing. "Very soon. She's getting the others ready since it's a festival night and everyone must look their best. Once they're done, we'll get to play in the shadows of the trees until dinner time. Then we get to eat the yummy feast Mummy has been making all day."

Merlin looked over at where Arthur stood a couple bonfires over with Gwaine, Percival, and Lancelot. "Amelia, I want you stay right here, okay? Don't go anywhere."

"Okay Merlin." Amelia started humming a tune that sent a shiver down Merlin's spine as he stood up.

Arthur looked up from his discussion with the others when Merlin joined them. "What is it Merlin?"

"Amelia says that the witch is coming very soon. She's calling her 'Mummy' and said that there's going to be a great feast tonight." Merlin told him.

Arthur shot to his feet. "Where's Amelia?"

Merlin turned to point at the bonfire he'd left her at. "Right over…" He trailed off when he saw two little boys dressed in finer clothes than any of the villagers had take her hands and begin to lead her towards the forest.

The five men took off running after them.

The laughter of children seemed to sound all around them the further they went into the foggy forest. They were interspersed with the shouts of happy children at play and the bell-like laughter of the woman from the night before.

The five followed the noise until they reached a dense patch of shadows.

The woman's shape loomed out of them and Arthur swung with his sword.

The woman laughed again. "You missed." she commented as she leaned against a tree behind them.

The five men spun around to face her.

Six little faces peered at them from behind her.

"They are knights? They don't look very knight-ly." one of the two boys commented.

The woman patted his head. "They aren't exactly at their prime yet Brandon. Now, run along home with you lot. I'll be home in a moment to take the goose from the oven. And no sneaking sweets. You'll ruin your dinners."

The six children shared looks and took off running, laughing and shouting the whole way.


	4. The Garden and Its Keeper

Chapter 4: The Garden and Its Keeper

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

* * *

The woman met Arthur's gaze bluntly. "I'll not let you harm my children. Nor will I let you take them away. I would die before I let them return to the lives they had before."

"You're a witch. I can't believe a word you say." Arthur returned.

She dipped her head. "As you wish. But know this, oh Crown _Prince_ of Camelot. Your father has tried to purge magic from the land, as what happens when too many wolves are killed, Nature has made stronger and smarter users of magic. Users that _are_ magic in and of itself, such as myself and Emrys. You will need him if you wish to unite all of Albion, for there are those with grudges against your father that they will transfer to you. Emrys will protect you from them. Now, I have six hungry children to go feed. So I bid you good evening."

Arthur led the chase after her as she ran through the forest.

She changed a glance back at them before she dashed into the thick shadows that stretched between two huge oaks.

They followed her and stopped short to stare at the land around them.

Colors more brilliant than they had ever seen, and in more shades and hues than they thought possible, dotted the landscape of a garden like none before.

The bell-like laugh of the woman came from the path before them.

"Everyone thinks that shadows are all darkness, but even in the darkest of shadows there is light. And the darker the shadow, the brighter the light. I welcome you to my Garden. Here truth, light, love, and magic rule." the woman's voice called back to them.

Merlin stooped down to touch a medicinal herb that grew next to the path.

It released a smell that attested its potency when he touched it. Usually the leaves had to be crushed before the scent could be smelt.

Gwaine looked back the way they'd come. "We can't go back, so we might as well go forwards and find out what lays in store."

The doorway they had come through was gone.

Arthur gripped his sword tighter. "Swords out and keep close. We don't know what may be laying in wait for us. Merlin, stay close. Since you're so hopeless with a weapon, you are the weakest of us. Which means you're the one that will be picked off first."

"That's a comforting thought." Merlin retorted as they began to move down the path.

Trees dotted the landscape here and there, though there was a huge forest in the distance that looked as if it led to the mountains that ringed the valley the garden was in.

A stone and wood cottage loomed up before the men, surrounded by a more orderly and organized garden than the wild garden located outside the low stone wall that made up the perimeter of the homestead. It had five floors, glass in the window frames and some of it was stained, balconies at every room on the top two floors, and a huge bay window in what looked like a huge sitting room that had been combined with a library. The cottage seemed more like a small castle than it did a cottage.

The four trees in the front yard all had swings and tree houses in them, except the weeping willow which just had a swing hanging from it and a low branch perfect for sitting on.

Little Amelia bounded over to the low gate set in the wall from one of the swings. She beamed at the men. "Mummy says to invite you in for dinner, that there's plenty for everyone. But you have to wipe your boots before you come in and leave your swords in the entry hall with hers."

Another little girl opened the two big doors of the house.

"Hurry up Amelia! Mummy's putting dishes of food on the table and it smells ever so good." the little girl called out to Amelia.

Amelia grabbed one of Merlin's hands and Arthur's free hand and tugged. "Come on! You don't want to miss dinner do you? There's roast goose and sweet potato casserole and lots of other goodies! And Mummy made honey and seed cakes and tarts and so many sweets for dessert."

The smells of a feast like those held on holidays in Camelot reached them from the open door, making stomachs rumble.

The five men copied Amelia and wiped their boots on the cast iron boot scraper next to the front stoop.

The other little girl smiled at all of them. "Hello! I'm Hannah. Brandon and Philip are helping set the table with Lily and Anna. Mummy said to put your swords on the hooks next to hers and then go through to the kitchen and wash up. No dirty hands at the table."

Unable to disappoint the expectant stares of the two little girls before them, the four knights carefully sheathed their swords and unbuckled them from their belts to place them on the hooks next to the two that held a rather plain looking sword with a purple stone set in the hilt.

The two little girls led the men through a dining room where the four other children were placing plates and cutlery around a table already leaden with dishes of steaming food.

The woman looked up from where she was pulling the largest goose any of them had ever seen from the oven. "Oh good! I was rather hoping that I wouldn't have to come fetch you before dawn. The dragons in the mountains prefer taking their daily flight with the first rays of the sun. I have never had a problem with them, but the sight of four armed men might make them nervous and I will take no chances with the safety of my children."

"You keep calling them your children. Care to explain why?" Arthur asked as they began to scrub their hands clean with soap.

She carefully moved the roasted goose from the spit it had been on to a large silver platter piled high with roasted vegetables and stuffing. She joined them at the sink and washed her hands before untying the apron she wore and tossing it towards a cloak rack pole.

The pole sprang to life and caught the apron before moving back to its out of the way spot.

"I will explain over dinner if you don't mind. My little ones have been tantalized by the smells of the feast long enough." She grabbed the platter and headed towards the table in the other room. "Seats my little dears! It is time for dinner."

Merlin found himself sitting next to Amelia at the table and across from Lancelot.

All the children were dressed in fine clothes, even Amelia. Her dress was still the same design and light blue color it had been, but was made of finer materials.

The woman stood at the head of the table and smiled at everyone sitting at the table.

The children all looked at her expectantly.

"The Goddess has deemed that my little family be completed this day and so it has, even as we welcome esteemed guests. So blessed be this food that the Goddess provided to nourish us. And now let us feast and enjoy each other's company." She didn't sit until after the children all had full plates and the men had mostly filled theirs. She then started putting things on her own plate.

Arthur, seeing how the children all seemed to have better manners than most nobles he'd met, swallowed what was in his mouth before starting in on his questions. "I believe you said you would explain why you call them your children over dinner?"

She politely patted her lips with her napkin. "Indeed I did." She sighed, staring at her plate for a moment before looking up and fixing each of the grown men with a piercing stare. "My name is Rhyannon, after the goddess on whose feast I was born. I was born in the very village I rescued my children from some twenty-two winters ago. My father had been very well respected in the village, but died in a battle between my father and some Druids against some of King Uther's men. This left my mother widowed and heavy with child. I was born soon after, but I was not an average child. I could do things, wondrous things that none else could do even at the young age of a few days. My mother, in fear for our lives, hid my talents from the rest of the village. She remarried, a man who had loved my mother dearly since they were children. He cared not that I was different, at least not at first. My fifth summer there was an accident. I had been practicing with my gifts under the watchful eye of my mother as she lay in her bed, close to giving birth to my sibling. A loud noise from outside startled me and the flame I had been moving from candlewick to candlewick suddenly caught the blankets covering my mother ablaze."

Merlin found himself wanting to comfort the scared child he saw in her as she paused to compose herself by taking a long drink of water.

Rhyannon took a deep breath and continued. "I could do nothing but watch in fear and horror at what I had unintentionally done as my mother frantically tried to beat out the flames. I started screaming as the flames spread to the wood of the bed. People came running as I sped from the house, shouting for help. My stepfather came running from the fields where he had been working, but by this time the house was merrily burning. It was as I was apologizing and saying that I never meant to do it that he realized that my mother and I had been doing my daily lessons, helping me control my gifts, and that they had somehow gotten out of hand. That was also the moment he started blaming me for her and the baby's deaths. The hateful words and beatings started soon after. I swore to never use my gifts ever again when the fire had finally been put out and my mother's unrecognizable body pulled from the smoldering remains of the house."

"It looks as if you broke your word." Percival stated as a pitcher floated over to refill the children's glasses with milk.

Rhyannon smirked. "Can you deny what you are Sir Percival? Can you fight the instincts of a knight? Not help those in need or kill to protect those you've sworn loyalty to? I _am_ magic. I couldn't just bottle it up, tried though I did. Little things would happen, things that would lead to even harsher beatings. I was eight when the dam I had created to block my magic broke. My stepfather had just returned from the tavern the next village over, smelling of ale so badly that I swore I could smell him on the other side of the village. Even from a young age I had been told that I looked exactly like my mother, but with the soul piercing silver eyes of my father. It was this fact that led my stepfather to attempt to do the unforgivable that night. Never before had I fought back, but this time I did. I would not let the monster he had become defile me in that manner. He didn't like that and hit me hard enough that I fell to the stones of the floor with blood streaming from my mouth."

"May we be excused, Mummy? We've finished our dinner and dessert." Anna asked.

Rhyannon smiled at the little girl. "Of course dear. Why don't you and your siblings go play in the sitting room? I'll just tidy up in here and the kitchen and then be in to read you a story."

The children all beamed at her, dropping kisses on her cheeks before scrambling for the other room and lightly arguing about what to play.

"Might we know what happened next?" Lancelot asked.

Rhyannon pushed what was left of her food around her plate. "He came at me again, trying to force me to submit. I finally called upon my magic, which had only grown stronger over the years. The shadows answered my call for help. I have always felt connected to them, having spent most of the three years between my mother's death and my freedom in the shadows of the trees and in the forest itself, learning. They rose up around him, awakening his worst fear. I set the hut ablaze as I left. I wanted no reminders of my past left as my shadows and I entered the forest. I swore then that once I was old enough and knew enough, I would protect the children that suffered as I had. I made a doorway to this place as winter was setting in and crafted it to fit what I needed as I needed it. I call the little ones my children because that's what they are, my children. I am a better parent than those that would hurt them."

"You killed their parents." Gwaine pointed out.

Rhyannon stood, dishes already beginning to float towards the kitchen. "No, I merely brought their worst fears to life. It was their own minds and terror that killed them, terror equal to that which my children felt when the beatings would begin. You do not understand what we have gone through, nor do you have children of your own. You do not know the lengths to which a parent will go to protect the children they love. I would die for them a thousand times over if that is what it came to." She followed the floating dishes into the kitchen.

Arthur sat back in his chair.

His knights looked at him.

"What do we do Sire?" Percival questioned.

Arthur glanced at where Rhyannon stood in the kitchen, humming as she put things to rights and then out at the wondrous garden that was awash in the light of a setting sun. "For now," he told them softly. "We do nothing but watch and wait. I have no doubt her story is true, but I don't completely trust her."

"And nor should you. I am the embodiment of that which you have been trained since birth to hate and revile. I will not ask you to trust me, but I will ask that you not harm my children. Their safety is much more important to me than anything else in this world and the next." Rhyannon said as she passed through on her way to the other room.


End file.
